Eritrea EOR & PEO

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Hire in Eritrea

Eritrea is a small country located on the African coast of the Red Sea, bordering Sudan, Djibouti, and Ethiopia. This country of just over 3.7 million has a complicated history, having been colonized by Assyria, Italy, Great Britain, and Ethiopia. In 1993, it gained full independence from Ethiopia but has since been ruled by a single-party government with no elections since then.

In 2018, UN sanctions against the country were lifted, and it began to normalize relations with its neighbors. Since then, the country’s economy has grown slowly, with a GDP rise of 2.5% in 2021, 2.3% in 2022, and 2.9% (estimated) in 2023. This development has been driven by services and exports of mined metals that have increased in price. The country’s GDP is expected to grow by 3.1% in 2024. While Eritrea still has much development to do, its people are ready to work now, and partnering with an EOR may be the best way to hire them.

Facts & Stats

hire employees in Eritrea

What Is a Eritrea EOR?

An EOR in Eritrea is an employer of record that works in that country to help companies manage and hire Eritrean workers. Since the EOR is registered as a business entity in Eritrea, it can hire workers directly on behalf of client companies that don’t have their own entities. This makes hiring and employment much easier and more efficient. In addition to hiring, EORs also provide many other services, including recruitment, negotiation assistance, contract creation, payroll management, benefits administration, leave scheduling, and more. They’re paid regularly by their clients to perform these ongoing human resources (HR) functions on their behalf.

You may have also seen this type of service provider referred to as a PEO or professional employment organization. These terms are often used interchangeably and refer to similar service providers.

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What Are the Benefits of a Eritrea EOR?

It can be very difficult to hire Eritrean employees on your own. By working with an Eritrea EOR, you can leverage its experience and professional knowledge. Some of the advantages of working with an EOR in Eritrea include:

Fast recruitment and onboarding. Recruiting and hiring workers in Eritrea independently represents a nearly impossible task for foreign-based companies. With limited access to information and no local networks or knowledge of effective recruitment techniques, filling positions could take months. With an EOR, however, this could take just days to weeks. EORs have their own networks and talent pools from which to find top candidates quickly and efficiently.
Affordability. Eritrea is a low-income country, and wages are some of the lowest in the world. It has no social security system in place, which means employers don’t pay any contributions. This makes Eritrean employees highly affordable for foreign-based employers to hire.
Workers’ language skills. Eritrea has no official language but officially recognizes the languages of nine ethnic groups, including the majority language, Tigrinya, as well as Tigre and Arabic. The country’s colonial history also means that Italian and English are known by many inhabitants and may be used for international business. The language skills of Eritrean employees can represent great value for any enterprise that employs them.
Constant compliance. When you partner with an Eritrea EOR, that organization acts as the sole legal employer of your workers. It signs contracts directly with them and, therefore, becomes responsible for ensuring their working conditions are safe, fair, and just. The EOR must use the knowledge and experience of its staff to ensure constant compliance with all of Eritrea’s tax and labor laws, even if they change over time.

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Why Choose Horizons?

Horizons stands out as a Eritrea EOR through:

A strong regional presence in Africa, meaning senior management are on the ground to deal with any issues.
Client-focused infrastructure. Horizons won’t oversell you on products and services you don’t need. Horizons offers the easiest platform to compliantly hire and pay people worldwide.
Cost-effective solutions. At $299 per employee, per month, no EOR in Eritrea is more affordable. The cost is 100% transparent (onboarding, offboarding, deposit, no extra charges).
A customer-first culture. Horizons is an efficient bootstrapped company. It is not an externally-funded company burning investor cash to aggressively acquire new clients. Horizons is the only EOR that grows with its customer, reflecting the level of care and personal attention provided to each customer. Horizons will carefully advise on the best setup in each country: the type of contract needed, how to structure your benefits, and how to offboard a person while minimizing the risk of conflicts and extra cost
A long-term partnership. Horizons is the only EOR platform with a recruitment arm — a direct response to client demand. If any employee is leaving, or if our clients want to explore a new country, Horizons can recruit new candidates directly for the client. Horizons is:
- The only EOR doing this in-house — no subcontracting
- The only EOR doing this without a retainer — clients are only charged upon success
- The only EOR charging just a 2% fee per month.

Step-by-step Eritrea EOR

How Does a Eritrea EOR Work?

Working with an EOR in Eritrea creates a tripartite relationship between your company, the EOR, and the employees you desire to work for you. This organization will typically provide the following services for you, its client:

Hiring your employees. When you decide to hire Eritreans to fill your open positions, the EOR will need to work with you to define these jobs and the requirements you have for workers who can fill them. It will then start recruiting on your behalf, normally through its own networks and labor pool but possibly also by advertising these positions publicly. It will vet candidates and put forward those it feels are best suited to your company’s needs. Once you accept its candidates, the EOR will enter into contracts with them. Although the EOR will take the role of the employer, it will contract these employees to work for you directly. Your company will manage their day-to-day schedules and tasks.
Managing employment contracts and onboarding. During the hiring process, the EOR will advise you on compensation that’s fair and appropriate, yet attractive enough to retain employees. It will also help as you and your selected candidates negotiate the terms of their employment contracts. Once these terms have been agreed, the EOR will produce the contracts, ensuring they’re legal and enforceable in Eritrea.

Once contracts have been signed, the EOR will onboard your workers. It will enter them into its human resources information system (HRIS), taking their relevant personal and financial information. It will also register them with the tax authorities (and with Social Security in the future). Finally, the EOR can give these workers an orientation to prepare them to begin working with your company.
Processing payroll and handling employment taxes. When you work with an EOR, it will manage payroll for your Eritrean workers every pay period. As the daily manager of your workers, you’ll need to track and report their hours and days worked and provide the EOR with this data. You’ll also transfer funds for workers’ salaries and tax payments. The EOR will withhold taxes and pay the remainder, the net salaries, on to the employees. Eritreans pay between 2% and 30% tax on personal income depending on their income levels, and the EOR will pay this withheld tax to the tax authority. There is no payroll tax or Social Security contribution for your company to pay in Eritrea.
Administering benefits. If you choose to offer additional benefits to your Eritrea workers to enhance their compensation packages, the EOR can also manage their administration for you. It can help to find acceptable providers and sign the workers up for programs that include private pensions, life insurance, medical insurance, disability insurance, or other benefits. Every pay period, it will calculate contributions from your company and the employees and pay them to the relevant service providers.
Taking care of exit procedures. As the legal employer of your workers, the EOR will take on the responsibility of terminating them when you deem it necessary. Except for instances of misconduct and gross negligence, there must be justification for both individual and group terminations. In these cases, the EOR will provide workers with the relevant notice and calculate and pay their severance payments as appropriate.

stay compliant with Eritrea labor laws

Labor Laws

Eritrea’s labor laws are developing along with those of the country. Little information about them can be found in foreign language legislation, including the Constitution of Eritrea of 1997, the Labor Proclamation of Eritrea of 2001, and other orders and proclamations. While a foreign-based company may be inclined to hire employees on its own, these laws may be hard to find and follow. Leveraging an EOR’s expertise is generally a much better solution. However, client companies should still know the main points of Eritrean labor law so they understand the working conditions and entitlements they’ll need to provide for their workers.

Employment contract types

Employment contracts in Eritrea may be oral or written. Their periods may be definite (fixed-term) or indefinite (permanent). Anyone over the age of 14 can enter into an employment contract in Eritrea.

Project-based

Fixed-term

Indefinite

Working hours in Eritrea

Regular working hours are limited to eight hours a day, six days a week, for a total of 48 hours. Employers can require overtime, but only for two hours per day—more than that must be performed with the employee’s agreement.

Overtime must be compensated in the following way:

Holiday Schedule in Eritrea [2024]

There are normally 16 paid public holidays in Eritrea, including religious (Christian and Islamic) and national days. Employees are entitled to these days off with pay. Employees who work on these days must be paid 250% of their normal wages.

Date	Holiday name
1 Jan, 2024	New Year’s Day
7 Jan, 2024	Orthodox Christmas Day
20 Jan, 2024	Timket
8 Mar, 2024	Women’s Day
10 Apr, 2024	Eid al-Fitr
11 Apr, 2024	Eid al-Fitr Holiday
1 May, 2024	International Workers’ Day
3 May, 2024	Coptic Good Friday
5 May, 2024	Coptic Easter
24 May, 2024	Independence Day
16 Jun, 2024	Eid al-Adha
20 Jun, 2024	Martyrs’ Day
1 Sep, 2024	Commencement Day of Eritrean Armed Struggle
11 Sep, 2024	Geez New Year
16 Sep, 2024	The Prophet’s Birthday (Tentative Date)
27 Sep, 2024	Meskel
25 Dec, 2024	Christmas Day

Paid time off

Employees are entitled to short breaks to rest during and for meals, but these breaks are not paid. Employees are entitled to one period of rest of 24 hours per week. This should normally be on Sundays but can be replaced by another day if an enterprise requires work on Sundays.

Sick leave in Eritrea

Employees are entitled to six months of sick leave in any 12-month period. The first month is paid at 100% of normal salary, the next two months are paid at 50%, and the next three months are not paid. A worker cannot be terminated during this period.

Less than 6 months of sick leave:

(percentage of regular wages owed to the employee)

Over 6 months of sick leave

In order for employees to receive the full wages due to them, workers must present a valid medical certificate from a certified doctor to their employer.

Maternity leave in Eritrea

Expecting mothers are entitled to sixty days of fully paid maternity leave.

Annual leave in Eritrea

Employees are entitled to 14 working days of paid leave after their first year of work. After each subsequent year of work, a day of leave is added to their annual entitlement up to a limit of 35 working days.

Termination & severance in Eritrea

In cases without gross misconduct or negligence, notice of termination must be given according to seniority:

Seven days’ notice for less than one year of work
Fourteen days’ notice for one to two years of work
Twenty-one days’ notice for three to five years of work
Thirty days’ notice for over five years of work

Severance is paid according to seniority. Workers receive:

Two weeks’ wages for each of the first five years of employment
Three weeks’ wages for each year of employment from the fifth to the tenth
Four weeks’ wages for each year after the tenth year

Eritrea's compulsory social security contributions

Social security system is designed to provide financial protection to workers in cases of old age, disability, and other social risks. The compulsory social security contributions are governed by the Labour Proclamation No. 118/2001 and other relevant regulations.

These contributions provide financial protection in cases of old age, disability, and other social risks.

Eritrea social security for foreigners

Social security contributions generally apply to both local and foreign employees. However, there may be some specific considerations or exemptions based on bilateral agreements or the employment contracts of foreign nationals.

Individual income tax

Individual income tax in Eritrea is progressive, with rates ranging from 2% to 38% depending on the level of income. Taxable income includes various sources such as salaries, business income, and rental income, with potential deductions available to reduce taxable income.

Health insurance

Eritrea’s healthcare system is primarily supported by government-provided services and social security contributions. While there is no comprehensive national health insurance scheme, the government subsidizes public healthcare to make it more affordable. Private health insurance options are limited and generally only accessible to expatriates and higher-income individuals.

hassle-free Eritreans compensation & benefits

Compensation & Benefits

Eritrea compensation laws

The minimum monthly salary for public sector workers is 360 ERN (Eritrean nakfa) per month (about 25 USD per month). Workers must be paid in the local currency. If they work overtime, their hours are paid at 125% of normal wages until 10:00 p.m. For night work from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m., overtime is paid at 150% of normal wages. Overtime on a rest day is paid at 200% of normal wages.

13 month salary in Eritrea

A 13th-month annual bonus is not mandatory in Eritrea, though some employers may offer this bonus as an added incentive to workers.

Social security for Eritreans nationals

Both employers and employees are required to make social security contributions, with typical rates being around 11% for employers and 7% for employees. These contributions provide financial protection in cases of old age, disability, and other social risks.

Eritrea Employer Of Record Peo

Navigation

Hire in Eritrea

What Is a Eritrea EOR?

What Are the Benefits of a Eritrea EOR?

Why Choose Horizons?

How Does a Eritrea EOR Work?

Labor Laws

Employment contract types

Working hours in Eritrea

Compensation & Benefits

Frequently asked questions

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Frequently asked questions

How does an EOR in Eritrea handle compliance with local labor laws?

Eritrean labor laws are complex and written in the local language. EORs can manage compliance with these laws by carefully preparing legal contracts, managing payroll and deductions, and monitoring working conditions. They also keep appraised of any changes in local legislation that may occur.

What are the challenges of hiring through an EOR in Eritrea?

Hiring through an EOR can introduce complications like using different software systems and languages for communication. Some companies also feel that their workers are not in their direct control when they hire them through an EOR.

Eritrea EOR & PEO

Start hiring in Eritrea

Simple, compliant hiring with Horizons EOR & PEO

Hire in Eritrea

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EOR Platform

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Contracts

Local benefits

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hire employees in Eritrea

What Is a Eritrea EOR?

Save Money And Time with A Eritrea EOR

What Are the Benefits of a Eritrea EOR?

Horizons is Best IN Class

Why Choose Horizons?

Step-by-step Eritrea EOR

How Does a Eritrea EOR Work?

stay compliant with Eritrea labor laws

Labor Laws

Employment contract types

Project-based

Probationary period

Termination

Severance

Fixed-term

Probationary period

Termination notice period

Severance

Indefinite

Probationary period

Termination notice period

Severance

Working hours in Eritrea

Overtime must be compensated in the following way:

For a regular workday:

For a rest day:

For a statutory holiday:

Paid time off

Under 1 year of employment

1-10 years of employment

10-20 years of employment

20+ years of employment

Sick leave in Eritrea

Less than 6 months of sick leave:

Under 1 year of employment

1-10 years of employment

10-20 years of employment

20+ years of employment

Over 6 months of sick leave

Under 1 year of employment

1-3 years of employment

3+ years of employment

Maternity leave in Eritrea

Annual leave in Eritrea

Termination & severance in Eritrea

Eritrea's compulsory social security contributions

Eritrea social security for foreigners

Individual income tax

Health insurance

hassle-free Eritreans compensation & benefits

Compensation & Benefits

Eritrea compensation laws

13 month salary in Eritrea

Social security for Eritreans nationals

Hire in Eritrea in 24h without your own local entity.

Frequently asked questions

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